Phil Bell

Philip "Big Phil" Bell (28 June 1967-) was a high-ranking associate of the Pegorino crime family of New Jersey from the 1980s to the 2000s. Bell, who was mostly of Irish descent, was not allowed to become a made man in the family due to the Italians-only policy of the American Mafia, but he played the role of a consigliere to Jimmy Pegorino, and he was one of the most powerful men in the family leadership. In 2008, Bell decided to leave a life of crime for small town life after the Pegorinos were bombarded with federal investigations and gang conflicts.

Biography
Philip Bell was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States on 28 June 1967 to a Catholic family, with 90% of his ancestors being from Ireland and 10% from Italy. Bell became a criminal during his teenage years, and he was arrested for grand theft auto in 1984 at the age of seventeen and in 1988 for promoting gambling. Bell became an associate of the Pegorino crime family of North Jersey's American Mafia, although he was excluded from a membership position due to not being of full Italian descent. Bell was business partners with Jimmy Pegorino for years, and he became a construction yard manager and the owner of the Honker's Gentleman's Club in Elizabeth, becoming a legitimate businessman. Bell became wealthy, marrying a New Jersey woman and having two children, although they would later be divorced.

Bell would rise to become the de facto consigliere of the Pegorino family, although Pegorino was unable to "make" Bell due to his fear that The Commission would oppose this gesture. Bell would become involved with several illicit activities such as the theft of heroin from the Jaoming Triad and fighting against the Ancelotti crime family and its Russian Mafia allies in 2008. When the FBI began to investigate the family, Bell was suspected of being a rat by Ray Boccino, but Bell persuaded Pegorino that Boccino was the rat, and Boccino was murdered on the orders of Pegorino. Bell would ultimately decide to leave a life of crime for a small town, retiring from the Mafia.